Landfill Expansion Plan Withdrawn

Joliet Turned Down Identical Request In 1997

The operators of a Joliet landfill have withdrawn their request for an expansion just before city officials were to start a hearing process on the issue.

The Geiss family pulled its application Tuesday; the first of five hearings was scheduled for Saturday. The expansion request for the CDT Landfill was identical to one the Joliet City Council rejected in 1997.

The Geiss family was seeking permission to expand the 55-acre landfill at Mound Road, just south of Interstate Highway 80. The family, which also runs a compost operation at the site, wanted to add 66 feet of height and expand across 24 acres of adjoining property.

The southwest side landfill stopped accepting waste this summer because of space restrictions, officials said. An expansion would have allowed the family to reopen the landfill and operate it for seven to eight years, said Park Davis, their attorney.

"The company made a decision to withdraw the application and consider its options for the future," Davis said Wednesday, adding that was the extent of the family's statement on the issue.

The request had drawn opposition from the group Citizens Against the Landfill Expansion, made up of residents of three nearby subdivisions, Cambridge, College Park and Springwood South, which are all just north of I-80 near Houbolt Road.

"We really couldn't be any happier," said Scott Carlson, a group leader who lives in the Cambridge subdivision.

"I think [the withdrawal] came about because we solidified as a group so well. It was clear that there would be opposition to the expansion."

Carlson said the group will continue to monitor the situation in case CDT Landfill resubmits its application. He said the withdrawal "could be a ploy to catch us off guard."

In 1997, the Joliet City Council determined that the landfill met only four of the nine state criteria for approving a landfill expansion. The council then voted 6-3 against the request.

"This time it might have been an 8-1 vote," said Councilman Tony Uremovic, who voted against the 1997 request.

Uremovic, whose district covers Joliet's southwest side, said council members would be concerned about how the landfill affects homes in the area and the city's effort to position itself as an entertainment and recreation destination point.

"Quality housing has developed in that area," he said. "The landfill should be capped and left for history. This landfill is not needed for Joliet."

In June, the Geiss family submitted its request for an expansion, citing the uncertainty of Will County's plans to develop its own landfill on the former Joliet Arsenal site.

There is no timetable for opening the Will County landfill, said Bruce Friefeld, chief assistant for administration and policy for Will County.

Last year, U.S. Rep Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) steered legislation through Congress that blocks a Will County landfill in the arsenal from accepting waste from outside the county.

Will County officials had an agreement with Waste Management to run the landfill, with the intent that the fee to dump garbage from outside the county would be higher than for Will County waste.

In recent months, county and Waste Management officials have been at odds over negotiating a new arrangement on fees.